Broncos to Play in San Francisco Friday Night at 7 p.m.

Oct 19, 2010

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara
University's men's soccer team looks to extend its unbeaten streak
to nine games when the Broncos make the short trip to San Francisco
to play USF Friday night at 7 p.m.

The Broncos are in third place in the West Coast
Conference standings through the first half of league play, owning
a conference record of 2-0-4 and 5-4-5 overall. SCU has had a
series of tough-luck ties, giving up last-minute equalizing goals
in three of their last four matches.

"Players will need to find a little bit more in themselves and a
little bit more in their decisions," said SCU head coach and
three-time WCC 'Coach of the Year' Cameron Rast about what it will take for his
team to close out games. "But I'm proud of what this group puts
into it. They keep coming back every game, unwilling to
relent."

"We are eight games undefeated, all be it five ties, but that's
pretty amazing for a young group. There is a fight in them and I
love that part."

MATCH NOTES
*SCU is led by ninth-year head coach Cameron Rast (98-50-34)
*The two Bay Area programs, SCU and USF, are both perennial NCAA
Tournament qualifiers
*The Broncos and Dons played to a 2-2 draw at Buck Shaw Stadium
Oct. 8
*The Broncos started seven underclassmen vs. USF in that first
matchup
*USF's Victor Cortez scored from 40 yards away with five seconds
left to force OT Oct. 8
*SCU is unbeaten in eight straight, while USF has not won in their
last seven
*Santa Clara is 2-0-2 in their last four road games and 3-1-2 on
the road this season
*The Broncos will be without MF Brandon
Zimmerman, who was red-carded Sunday against USD
*SCU captain Mykell
Bates has either scored or assisted in five of the last seven
games
*Bates now ranks 6th in the WCC with nine points this season
*Sophomore Wesley
Culver is enjoying a break-out season, using free kicks to
generate seven points for SCU
*Santa Clara's 11 goals through the first half of WCC play is tied
for a league-best
*Last season, SCU lost at USF 2-0
*USF owns the all-time series record against SCU 30-20-8, but
since 1994 the series has been dominated by the Broncos 18-3-5
*All three SCU losses in the series since 1994 have come at USF,
with the Dons winning three of the last six in San Francisco
*The Dons lost twice last weekend on the road @ GU 3-1 and @ UP
3-1
*USF is still looking for their first WCC win (0-5-1)
*USF was picked to finish sixth in the WCC preseason coaches'
poll
*The Dons have scored a league-low 10 goals on the year, spanning
13 games
*UP NEXT: Santa Clara is beginning a three-game road swing, @ USF
(10/22), @ USD (10/29) and @ LMU (10/31)

LIVE COVERAGE
Fans can watch Friday night's match FREE on the Don's official
athletics website (USFDons.com). Additionally, FREE live scoring
will be available (see links above).

SANTA CLARA (5-4-5; 2-0-4 WCC)
After playing eight of their first 10 games away from home, the
Broncos just finished a stretch of hosting three straight –
tying in all three. The way Santa Clara tied each of those last
three home games has been remarkable, as the opposing teams scored
in the final two minutes or less to force overtime. SCU fields a
team that starts seven underclassmen. Obviously, a unit that will
only improve in the next few years, SCU is enjoying a successful
2010 campaign, and is just six points behind league-leading LMU
with six games to play. Talented players in Erik
Hurtado, Eric Masch,
Wesley
Culver and Mykell
Bates each have collected five or more points this season.
Defensemen Gabriel
Romero, a Costa Rica native, and true freshman Mark Daus, rank
two and three on the club in minutes played, part of a solid back
line in front of former All-WCC keeper Kevin
Klasila.

USF (2-9-2; 0-5-1 WCC)
The Dons – who have qualified for 31 NCAA Tournaments and
have won six National Championships – are returning just six
upperclassmen from their 7-10-2 team from 2009. Like SCU, San
Francisco is very young. The Dons are still in search of their
first WCC victory after dropping road games at Gonzaga and Portland
last weekend. The Dons have had a hard time scoring, ranking last
in the league with 10 goals in 13 matches. However, Victor Cortez
was able to score twice for USF against Santa Clara Oct. 8 at Buck
Shaw. Forward Bryan Burke is another player to watch for USF; one
of just 11 players to be named to the preseason All-WCC squad by
the league coaches.

SCU HEAD COACH CAMERON RAST
Santa Clara University alumnus Cameron Rast is in this ninth
season at the helm of Bronco men's soccer. He has led his alma
mater to five NCAA tournament appearances and three West Coast
Conference titles. Six of his student-athletes have been named
All-Americans and 13 have moved on to play professional soccer. A
former All-America player on Santa Clara's National Championship
team of 1989 and U.S. Olympic Team captain in 1992, Rast took over
as SCU head coach in 2002 after eight seasons as an assistant
coach. Under his guidance the Broncos won the WCC title in 2003 and
claimed back-to-back conference championships in 2006 and 2007.
Rast owns a 98-50-34 career record at Santa Clara and is 50-13-19
all-time at Buck Shaw Stadium.

QUOTABLE
"The foundation of this team is to commit ourselves 100 percent
everyday," said Mykell
Bates looking ahead to Friday's match with USF. "Since that's
the foundation, it's not hard to get up for every game, it's almost
intuitive."